Mostly Sun Ra

OPEK Plays the Music of Sun Ra

Friday, May 318pm (doors at 7pm)

The enigmatic and mysterious musician Sun Ra drew inspiration from ancient Egyptian cultures, spiritualism, and Afro-American history to create a repertoire encompasses the entire history of American jazz from ragtime to Free. Though his popularity peaked in the 1960s, his influence as an arranger and bandleader are still felt today.

OPEK,Pittsburgh’s most innovative collective of creative improvising musicians, perform Sun Ra’s music — including several unrecorded compositions — with their own unique musical stamp, just as it was intended to be played.

There's a new CD by The Deep Freeze Mice available from www.cordeliarecords.co.uk -
a new version of their 1981 second album "Teenage Head in My
Refrigerator", which hasn't been available for 22 years. This edition
has vastly improved sound quality, an album's worth of bonus tracks and a
twenty page booklet with hitherto unseen pictures and unread writing.

Here is an awful review of "Teenage Head" from rateyourmusic.com where some swine has the temerity to call it vacuous:

At their below average best, i.e. in a track such as
I Like Digestive Biscuits In My Coffee and Esther they are a strange
mix of funk post punk (probably APB being their nearest reference point)
and slightly less irrelevant (and as equally less relevant) Half Man
Half Biscuit.

Although indie electronica darlings MGMT tend to
name drop them as an influence in every interview they ever do, despite
sounding nothing like them, it is hard to see what genuine relevance
they have inasmuch that intermittently try to be funny but generally are
not (although God is hilarious and guaranteed to drive god botherers
who try to bother you from your door!) and try to be serious but have
neither the lyrical ability or musical ability to struggle free from
being vacuous.

Perhaps being vacuous is the point…in which case
they succeed with immense aplomb apart from in the albums only really
genuine stand out, Vera which has a sort of lo-fi weird Ariel Pink
homemade in the bedroom type feel to it.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The latest LAZULI album is a video registration of a recording session over at their home studio, 'L'Abeille Rôde'.
Bonus tracks include concert fragments from the NOTP and the Prog Festival in Germany and France, plus some tracks from an acoustic session.

True, Lazuli did not change their formula, so you know what to expect.
But what you get, is great.

"Yes
it's official, after announcing earlier in the year that Ingo"The
Kid" Oosterbaan would be moving on to other pastures,ZAPPATiKA have sought
high and low ,far and wide, and in a bizarre turn of events ,and after much
strumming of tunes and jangling of notes, the son has become the father and the
father has become the Bass player !

Joep
Oosterbaan (pronounced Yoop in Dutch)
is a consummate Bassist with 25
years in the game ,and a deep,deep love of all things FZ, hence perhaps
the abilities of aforementioned young FZ-tuned offspring?

"The Kid" will play
his last show with the band at Ke's forthcoming June wedding to Sven in
Stockholm and then pass the rod (or bass guitar) onto his father."

Ronnie
Cuber was a saxophone player in the Saturday Night Live band when Frank Zappa
was featured as a special guest.

When Zappa did his Chrismas shows in NYC in 1976, Ronnie Cuber was part
of the horn section, playing baritone sax and clarinet. Recordings of this
concert were used on "Zappa In New York" and on "Lather".

This album presents the music that Mick Paauwe and Arend Niks wrote for two Orkater music productions: "Dood Meisje" and "Ik Beloof Dat Ik Onvoorzichtig Zal Zijn".
Absurd stories and funny pieces of music.

Adding data to the United Mutations Archives, and listening to some fine music at the same time, is a perfect combination.Mauro Pawlowski & The Grooms (with The Grooms being Jan Wygers, David Joris, Steven Janssens and Herman Houbrechts) released "Black Europe" in 2004 on Mauro's F.A.N. label.
"Black Europa" is a dark and heavy rock album.Essential listening !

"Closure" consists of one tape of live
concert and behind-the-scenes footage from the Self-Destruct tour and one tape
of music videos. The first cassette's additional footage highlights the
backstage antics by Nine Inch Nails and their tour guests: Marilyn Manson, Jim
Rose Circus and David Bowie. It also contains a backstage fragment where the
band is singing along with Zappa's 'Broken Hearts Are For Assholes'.

In
2006, a digital and expanded copy of "Closure" was leaked to the internet and was
made available through bittorrent sites, youtube and vimeo. It did, eventually, get an unofficial, bootleg DVD release (in South
America).

Here's the fragment:

Data of this VHS- and DVD-bootleg release were added to the United Mutations Archives.
Here's the cover artwork:

Direct
from their triumphant visitation to the FMX Festival de Mexico in Mexico City
earlier this week, the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen
will land the arkestral spaceship at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on
Saturday May 25, 2013 for a concert celebrating Arkestra Musical Director
Marshall Allen's 89th birthday. Mike Reed's People, Places & Things will
open the evening with a set at 8:30 pm and the Sun Ra Arkestra under the
direction of Marshall Allen will headline the show with their performance at
9:30 pm. Previous year's Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen
appearances at Johnny Brenda's have sold out with fans having to be turned away
at the door - so it is suggested to arrive early after the doors open at 8:00
pm in order to join the celebration of Marshall Allen's 89th Arrival Day (as
Sun Ra would describe it).

After
the Philly engagement, the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall
Allen will continue its 2013 World Tour with a summer European tour featuring
eight concerts in Poland, Spain, England, and Italy. The London stop will be a
five night residency at the Cafe Oto, where former Sun Ra Arkestra visits to
this jazz club have sold out well in advance of the concert dates - so advance
planning is strongly suggested for anyone wanting to catch the Sun Ra Arkestra
under the direction of Marshall Allen during this visitation to London.

Also,
please note that the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen is
now the rightful owner of the Internet domain name: http://www.sunraarkestra.com

This
will replace http://www.thesunraarkestra.com as we move forward, but the old
Internet domain name will remain active for now and forward all users to the
new http://www.sunraarkestra.com website domain name.

The
upcoming itinerary dates for the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of
Marshall Allen 2013 World Tour are:

Sunday, May 12, 2013

André Cholmondeley:"At the tour opener in NJ, we had the pleasure of STANLEY ZAPPA sitting in on sax with us. Some video of that will surface soon. Here is Stanley & his friend Tamio Shiraishi performing in an NYC subway. We will be doing some music with him in the future -- another generation of Zappa creativity!!"

Besides Joe's incredible guitar, you hear Mike Keneally's keyboard, Chris Chaney's bass and Vinnie Colaiuta's drums. That's one master guitar player and two former Zappa bandmembers !!I expected the music to be great, but I was wrong. It's fantastic!

Special deal & package for "Unstoppable Momentum" included a signed CD, a t-shirt, a poster and an art book.After postage and taxes the costs for whole package tripled, but still, it's worth it. It's cool t-shirt and a fun art book.

SST Records once was the home of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. The label also released various Zoogz Rift and Henry Kaiser albums.
In 1989, Brian Ritchie (Violent Femmes) released "Sun Ra - Man From Outer Space" on the SST label.3 songs could be found on this 3"CD (remember these?), the first one being the Sun Ra tribute.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Hyper-rare
El Saturn LP, recorded in 1963, early in the Arkestra's NY period, paired with
a full CD of extra material. Loaded with John Gilmore, one of the greatest
& rarest slabs of Sun Ra vinyl, on disc for the first time!

Yeah.
We couldn't help it. It's that Special Day for mothers everywhere - still mean
and almost 50! To commemorate, memorialize and remind that some things never
change. No matter what you do, stating the obvious is often the first necessary
step to solving a problem. We appreciate your support and authority in
representing Frank Zappa's intent as an Artist and Humorist. We gratefully and
proudly present this Special Edition* of HELP I'M A ROCK / IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE
& WHO ARE THE BRAIN POLICE? On Red Vinyl, 12" at 45 revolutions per
minute. We hope you'll have it in your hot little helpin g hands in time to
commemorate the American Revolution. Those were the days.

xxx,

the
barfies

*What's
so special? Check this out:

Side 1:
HELP I'M A ROCK / IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE Original Stereo 1966 Mix

Friday, May 10, 2013

"With a sound that runs across progressive
rock/metal, melodic and hard rock grounds with equal measure, "Anton
Johansson's Galahad Suite" is the result of an idea that has been in the
head of former Mister Kite member Anton Johansson for almost 30 years."

Anton Johansson assembled a bunch of talented musicians to record his "Galahad Suite". One of these is guitar player extraordinaire Mattias IA Eklundh. Reason enough to check out the album.True, as far as I can tell, Mattias IA Eklundh only plays one one track, but that should not stop you from listening to this.
"Galahad's Suite" is a classic, melodic and melodramatic rock opera.
Nice. Very nice.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Tomorrow at the Trix club in Antwerp (B), the second edition of Mauroworld will take place.
The concept is easy: you get a little festival and each band is a Mauro Pawlowski project.
I was there last year and I had to leave too early, but it sure was a memorable night.

Talking about the new album by The Wrong Object, Michel Delville said:"The other good news is that there will be a special CD RELEASE
CONCERT in LIEGE on June 29 - hope some of you can make it -
we'll get back to you with more details very soon!"

And he added:"The CD launch will also feature two other acts including a ZAPPA tribute by ENSEMBLE MOSAE".

Zappa
Plays Zappa, the Grammy(r) winning group that has made and recreated history
performing the music of Frank Zappa, is set to embark on an epic musical trek
across the US, Canada and Europe celebrating the classic Frank Zappa album,
Roxy & Elsewhere. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of that pivotal
Zappa fan favorite, the entirety of its repertoire -- including the provocative
rhythms of "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" "Echidna's Arf (Of
You)" and Be-Bop Tango (of the Old Jazzmen's Church)" will be
performed Live!

Since
2006, Dweezil Zappa has led his highly acclaimed group through more than 500
performances worldwide and over 275 compositions spanning the breadth of his
father's deep catalog. "I think my father's music deserves the chance to
be discovered by a contemporary audience. His creativity and discipline is
inspirational. Since generation X has apparently evolved beyond generation Y,
perhaps we've reached generation Z. I think this is an appropriate time and
place to inherit and adopt Frank Zappa as the musical figure head for
Generation Z. Many facets of his music are bold and unconventional and it feels
to me like it's from the future. Generation Z should be bold and
unconventional"

Beginning
this September, Zappa Plays Zappa will hit the road premiering songs that have
not been performed on previous tours and cutting its teeth on additional
surprise material. "The Roxy & Elsewhere album has always been one of
my favorites and I'm excited to play it top to bottom. It has a great balance
of musical styles and showcases some of the funkiest grooves and most
devilishly frenetic instrumental passages my father ever composed."

Navigating
the musical twists and turns of Frank Zappa's Music onstage isn't the only
attraction on offer for the upcoming tour. As a bonus to the tour, a 90 minute
personalized guitar instruction session from Dweezil's annual musical bootcamp,
Dweezilla, will be offered as a separate ticket in the afternoon before sound
check in every city. Players of all skill levels are welcome to attend. "I
really enjoy sharing musical ideas and improvisational strategies with people.
In these classes we discuss technique and application as our main topics.
People will also get a chance to have a close up look at the newly released
Frank Zappa Roxy SG made by Gibson Guitars," notes Zappa.

Certain
to be among the tour's highlights are performances at iconic venues that
resonate with Zappa history. Honoring the long-standing tradition in New York
City Dweezil will stand in the same place Frank Zappa often stood on Halloween
at the Beacon.

Auspiciously
paying homage to Roxy & Elsewhere, Dweezil and his bandmates will perform
at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, exactly 40 years to the day of Frank Zappa's
Performances at the Roxy in December, 1973.

Monday, May 6, 2013

I added the data for Christopher Garcia's Quarteto Nuevo "El Musico" album to the United Mutations Archives earlier today.
Christopher Garcia is the drummer for The Grandmothers.
On "El Musico", the Quarteto Nueve performs Paul Carman's 'Even Picasso Couldn't Find Her'.
Paul Carman toured and recorded with Frank Zappa in 1988.
Quarteto Nuevo's eponymous second album included the ensemble's rendition of FZ's 'T'Mershi Duween'.

André here..
from Project/Object....reporting from the wilds of New Jersey...

We are
in rehearsal week for the upcoming run.. to present once again The Music OF
Frank Zappa!

this
time with the most extensive lineup in our history:

Ike
Willis, Ray White, Tom Fowler, Ed Mann & Denny Walley !

but
first.....PROJECT/OBJECT tour donations!!!. I get a number of emails from some
of you saying:

"How can I help...? When are you coming
to __________ city"

Well
having pondered Kickstarter, various crowdsourcing etc..we are still looking at
options to creatively lift the level of activity, and get out there more often.
The startup costs of flying alumni out, getting a band in one spot, rehearsed and into touring vehicles is, as
you might expect, kind of ass-kicking. Or else everyone would do it. I'm not
complaining -- I picked this madness. But, inspired by seeing so many bands doing
the micro-financing thing, I think we'll try it a bit...

So--
thanks so much for offers to help and donate, from so many of your via email
and facebook. NOW - if you'd like to help a bit, even $5.00 helps us get some
gas in the van or truck:

You can
use paypal (or credit card at paypal.com)

Our
paypal account is : projectobject@earthlink.net

Many
thanks. now -- here is the press release for the upcoming tour -- New Jersy
peeps...see you this WEDNESDAY MAY 8 for the big tour opener in Teaneck @
Mexicali...or Friday May 10 in Asbury Park @ Stone Pony ! please forward this
wildly and tell your friends! Thanks and see you at a show....

Frank
Zappa, one of the twentieth century's most important composers, continues to
have an effect on modern music. His list of ex-band members is a who's who of
incredible musicians. For twenty years Project/Object has been on a mission to
bring Zappa's multi-dimensional music and onstage madness to the masses, by
faithfully recreating the live Zappa experience with his alumni.

Over
the years Project/Object has performed with over a dozen of Zappa's most
popular band members. Touring coast to coast in the USA and a half-dozen
European nations, the band is beloved by fans everywhere. In every market,
Project/Object pleases the Zappa connoisseurs and converts the curious into
dedicated fans.

Now, in
their third decade of performing the Music Of Frank Zappa, Project/Object sets
out on tour with their most incredible lineup yet. Over the years they have led
the way in taking Zappa's bandmates on tour, featuring musicians from almost
every single Mothers and Zappa album. The band is proud to have been an
integral part of the explosive growth in popularity of Zappa music in recent
years.

On this
tour PROJECT/OBJECT is joined by longtime collaborators Ike Willis & Ray
White, as well as Ed Mann, Denny Walley and for the first time Tom Fowler .
They all bring their virtuosic creativity and deep history to the stage.
Between them they have played on Zappa's most popular and iconic releases, including
Tinseltown Rebellion, Bongo Fury, Sheik Yerbouti, Apostrophe, Joe's Garage, Roxy and Elsewhere, One Size
Fits All, and Baby Snakes. Denny Walley is also well known for his recent tours
with his fellow Captain Beefheart alumni in The Magic Band.

With the
alumni on board, Project/Object brings an authenticity that few tribute acts
can claim, and they will continue to bring Zappa music, and Zappa band members
directly to the fans. The band will be performing Zappa classics from all eras
as well as the pieces most associated with each of the musicians.

Information
, tourdates: www.projectobject.com

PROJECT/OBJECT
TOURDATES MAY 2013 USA

08 Wed NJ Teaneck Mexicali (without Denny Walley)

09 Thu PA Glenville Snail
Pie Lounge (without Denny Walley)

10 Fri NJ
Asbury
Park Stone
Pony

11 Sat CT
New
Haven Toad's
Place

12 Sun RI
Pawtucket Met
Cafe´

13 Mon VT Burlington Higher Ground

14 Tue MA
Northampton Iron
Horse

PROJECT/OBJECT
TOURDATES MAY 2013 EUROPE

18 Sat Poland Lublin Codes
Festival

20 Mon Czech Repub Prague Matrix Club

21 Tue Germany Hanover BluesGarage

22 Wed Germany Aalen Rock It

23 Thu Germany Aschaffenburg Colos-Saal

24 Fri Netherlands Eindhoven Effenaar

25 Sat Germany Erfurt HsD Club

26 Sun Austria Hard Kammgarn

PROJECT/OBJECT
LOCAL CREW!!!

please
send me an email if you are interested in being on the P/O LOCAL CREW, this
entails assisting us with load in/load out, setup, etc.

In
gratitude we say THANK YOU but also extend passes to the show and priority
seating if this applies to the venue, and a couple beers if that is your
thing..

Email andre@projectobject.com for more info!! Load in is usually 3 or
4pm day of show.